Bravo Erik!!!!!

Look, I don't mean to be insulting, but this makes me a little mad. Surely the enjoyment comes from people reading your reviews, not because you got a free CD in the mail. I fail to see how the change to digital media could seriously reduce the pleasure you get from reviewing.

I (and many other forum members) would love to have the opportunity to write for a quality site, irrespective of what form the promos were in. Perhaps you feel under appreciated and hard-done-by because you've forgotten how lucky you are to have this opportunity in the first place.

Also, I think it is a little ironic to be complaining about the increasing use of digital promos, when this website actively encourages labels and artists to use Haulix, a digital promotional tool.

I have to agree with Erik. Getting a free cd should be the perk of promoting the product that they are looking to sell. It certainly does seem like there is less effort on the label/band/pr peoples side when the reviewer is supposed to maintain the same level of effort. If it is a cost issue for the labels than maybe they should limit the amount of promos they release and keep i to the more popular and reputable sites.

I would be quite happy to review for this site without any so-called 'perks'. As for the lashes you get, I dont think a few disgruntled fanboys are representative of this sites readership. I imagine the majority of people that view this site dont lash at all. I'm not sure what point you a trying to make there.

Anyhow, you're a good writer Erik, and I don't doubt you've worked hard to get where you are. I apologise if you felt insulted by my last comment. It's my opinion that most good things in life come with a healthy dose of good luck, thats all.

Erik, my brotha, I consider you the Michael Jordan of Metal Journalism.

Frustration is a natural reaction when all of a sudden many labels stop cold turkey and move to digital promos. I've got insight from both sides of the fence and bias aside, my only answer to the whole situation, is that we embrace it for what it is BECOMING and work together; labels, journalists and artists alike.

Let's be realistic here, maybe 20% or even 10% of old-school physical promos come with the full jewl case and CD booklet. The rest are shot out of a machine, wrapped in a cheap cardboard sleeve or even worse.

Years one and two of Metal Review this seemed like Christmas every week. Fast forward to years eight and nine and having thousands of mix-matched albums to manage isn't that great after all. In fact, it costs a lot of money to process physical review inventory from mailbox to published review. A digital promo allows us to bypass a lot of processing steps. We save money and get the music into the reviewer's ears much faster.

Don't get me wrong, you/we work very very hard to review these albums and run a site like this. We want to feel appreciated just like anyone else who works hard for a good cause. I think we need to stop associating the label as the "bad guy" who doesn't appreciate us - just because they are changing their promotion strategy. In this economy, they're just like us, a squirrel trying to get a nut. Let's embrace it for the love of the music and look for appreciation from our 45,000 monthly readers. "Payment" is meant to come from other sources.

I definitely see where you're coming from, especially since you've been doing this for  a long time. I've only been doing the metal journalism thing for about three years, meaning I came in to it towards the end of the physical promo era. And honestly, I don't really mind the switch to digital.

Sure, streaming promos are probably the worst idea ever, and whatever label suit that thought that was a good idea should be publicly tarred and feathered. But using digital promo vehicles like iPool and Haulix for full downloads have been very convenient for me. I rarely listen to CDs anymore; when I buy one, I rip it to my hard drive, and then it rots on my shelf for eternity. I use my iPod 90% of the time, and my turntable the other 10%. To me, CDs are dead.

Not only does the digital promo save labels money in a time of economic stress, it also cuts down on waste. It's more environmentally (and home office) friendly. Frankly, I'm glad that my office isn't littered with physical copies of the latest albums from Karen Page, Mnemic, Divine Heresy, or whatever horseshit Victory Records is shoveling.

Totally dude. I'm with you. It's all about holding the album in your hand, reading through the lyrics, admiring the artwork, reading the production notes, etc. I like to understand everything that went into an album. I still enjoy buying CD's. Rip 'em and flip 'em off to someone else that wants to enjoy a crushing musical performance!

I can understand the reasoning for labels to send digital files for review, but I am amazed that some people prefer packets of 1s and 0s to a physical disc.  Granted, I rip every CD to my harddrive to swap mp3s to my phone, but when I am at home, I would much rather pop a disc into my stereo and rattle the walls.

Earbuds and iPods are for pop or rap.  Metal needs 8" woofers!!!

Eights?! Tens, man.  :)

I love reading them too, but they're liner notes, not linear notes.

The digital age has been amazing to the listeners and the bands.  It's been hell on the labels.

Look, I can understand frustration with not getting a free, physical copy of the album with all the fancy art and stuff as a sort of perk for the job.  I can definitely understand the malice towards streaming reviews, but that's just another symptom popping up due to the plague that seems to be bringing down the mighty major labels, or at least knee capping em good.

But when it all boils down to it, it's the music that matters.  And to bring it down to the media element, at least the review portion, the ability to convey the emotions said music had on you to your readers.  If the music is that big of a deal then join a street team.

If you feel underappreciated because you didn't cop a free disc, then I guess the thousands of readers who actually take the time to read your stuff should, what, feel like shit?  Maybe send you donations or something?

A lot of bands that are being helped by the digital age may not have the financial means to send out a few hundred dollars worth of lost merchandise to review outlets, and the big labels who are getting rotally fucked by the digital age are notorious for not giving a shit about anything but the bottom line.  Sorry you got caught in the crossfire here.

On the other hand, not getting a thing from record companies sort of solidifies the integrity of the review.

Again, it should be about the music, the piecing together a review, posting it, and communicating with the readers and having dicussion/debate/flame wars.  After reading this, it kind of seems like all that takes a backseat to you.  Maybe it doesn't, but you sure do come off sore that you got into something that merely requires listening to music and dissemination of opinion and you're not getting anything at all for your trouble.

I guess you really don't like doing this shit at all?

Neverthless, Erik still makes a legitimate point. When reviewing a bunch of randomly assorted files, you are not reviewing the full retail version, i.e. the complete piece of work. For example Debemur Morti has abandoned digital promos and gone back to physical copies for this very reason.

They aren't a bunch of randomly assorted files.  It is the complete sonic works, albeit in a different (and much more flexible) format.

You make it sound like getting the FLAC files (Which is how they should be distro'd) or MP3's somehow makes the review of the music null and void.

Sure, you don't get that feeling of popping open the jewel case and seeing all the artwork and effort put into the album, but you can still see it online.  If we're going down that slippery slope, if you get a CD you still aren't getting the full retail version due to signal loss going from analog to digital, and the detail loss on the art going from its original full size (presumably even bigger than a vinyl sleeve).

By your logic, the only way to have a true, complete review would be to see the original master artwork and listen to the actual recording studio tapes through powered studio speaker systems.

No, by my logic you would have a more complete review, if you had the exactly same thing they sell at the record store. Just an observation, nothing to get upset about.

Are Digital Promos Unhealthy to the Music Industry?

Well, I'm not gettin upset.

Ok, maybe a little.

It's the same thing, though, really.

I agree with Eric to a point. I mean this is a job for them. A fun one but none the less a job. A digital copy will just never replace the real thing. I still put a CD in the Player most of the time. I think part of it is a generation thing anyways and what you are used too. Old people hate change for the most part.

Doesn’t anyone notice the difference in sound quality? Artwork, booklet, etc. is secondary. I would rather review a naked CD-r than a digital album with all the info/art. I don’t trust the digital format enough to write detailed reviews.

Even if I were to review music on digital format, why should I bother reviewing a mediocre digital album provided by a label that doesn’t care for quality promotion when I can download and review a great album by a deserving band which is just as easily available on the net and has the same sound quality? Metal promotion all the same huh? And like Erik said, it is not like we are getting paid for it. Why then the compulsion for us to review digital promos?

I can understand that the labels may not be able to afford sending out hundreds of promos to all the zines out there but I think they should be able to differentiate between the good established zines having detailed reviews written by a well-informed staff and a blog with 9 views that never gets updated. Yes, it is insulting to be given a rapidshare link by an unknown band that makes it appear as if they are doing a favour on us by doing so and have the gall to tell us by when we must do it. We are just not going to waste our time with that. It takes a couple of minutes for people to read it but it takes hours for us to listen to a release several times and write a detailed review of it.

Labels can do whatever they like. If they don’t send us promos in the right format, fine. We will buy CDs, as we have been doing before writing for a zine, and review it whenever we feel like, if we feel it deserves to be reviewed in the first place.

Kunal/Diabolical Conquest Webzine

My label and publicity company have been using a system which combines Digital Delivery (Haulix) and physical promo delivery for about 8 months now...  Although we are pushing and encouraging digital promos we still offer physical promos to anyone who requests it.  

Generally we send advance copies digital and offer to send out physical copies upon request.  Less and less actually request physical copies even though some sites are still against all-digital promos.

Another avenue to discussion is the difference between sending a digital promo through yousendit or mediafire or using a proper digital delivery system like Haulix or DMDS.  Sending a giant zip file is not very presentable whereas a good digital delivery system makes the process easier and more seamless for the reviewer.

Like it or not, digital delivery is becoming increasingly popular and will continue to become the standard… I think we need to rethink the ways promotion work altogether… I think bands/labels should start compensating devoted writers and key publications in other ways then the old free CDs for reviewing method and maybe send them T-Shirts, buttons, stickers and other swag every once in awhile either as gift or as a contest give-away which the review site can give out to their readers.  This way the writers still get something extra for their work and effort and the bands/label can continue to focus on using digital promos which save time and money.